


If I Fell

by midoriverte



Series: Hidekane Week 2018 [3]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: But not explicit, Day 3: questioning/friends to lovers, Hidekane Week, Hidekane Week 2018, M/M, additional tags as fic updates, alcohol use, kaneki is an idiot, some harassment in the club
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-15 08:19:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15408849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midoriverte/pseuds/midoriverte
Summary: Tsukiyama drags Kaneki to a gay club as part of his endless quest to get Kaneki to get out more and meet new people. Of course, there's a slight flaw in his plan as Kaneki is not gay and also terrible at social interaction. But when Tsukiyama introduces Kaneki to his coworker, Hideyoshi Nagachika, Kaneki finds he gets along with him better than he could have imagined...Day 3 ––– Questioning / Friends to Lovers.





	If I Fell

Kaneki didn’t know why he allowed Tsukiyama to drag him anywhere. He was maybe too forgiving of a person, or too much of a pushover. Either way, he always ended up in places he didn’t really want to be (which, in fairness, was pretty much anywhere, because he hated going out), or being forced to talk to people he didn’t want to talk to (again, he hated talking to people). He hoped at the very least that they didn’t end up getting chased by the police like they did after the Restaurant Incident.

 

“You need to get out more,” Tsukiyama said, wrapping his arm around Kaneki’s shoulder as the limo he had hired for them rounded a corner. 

 

Kaneki shrugged him off. He didn’t say anything, but Tsukiyama could see him glaring at him. 

 

“You say that to me every five minutes,” Kaneki sighed. 

 

“I’ll stop saying it when it stops being true, my dear.”

 

Kaneki scrunched up his nose. At least he could enjoy the limo ride. God knows he had never been in one before he had become friends with Tsukiyama. 

 

“A gay club, though?” Kaneki said. “I’m not even gay!” 

 

“You expect me to go alone?” Tsukiyama feigned shock, holding his hand over his heart. 

 

“Don’t tell me you don’t know literally five hundred other people who would go with you. You could probably pick any random person who follows your Instagram ”

 

“But no one else who deserves to unwind as much as you,” Tsukiyama said. 

 

Kaneki shook his head. There was no arguing with him when he got an idea in his head. 

 

“Besides,” Tsukiyama continued. “I have a coworker who’s going there and I think you would get along with him.” 

 

Oh god, there it was. Tsukiyama’s endless quest to get him out more was matched only by his endless quest to get him to make more friends. Somehow he had got into his head that Kaneki was “lonely” and “sad”. 

 

He had no idea where he had gotten that impression. 

 

“Could we not have met  in a more...neutral setting?” Kaneki said.

 

“You act as though I didn’t formulate this plan at three thirty this afternoon. And we’re almost there, so just relax and enjoy the evening.”

Those were two things Kaneki was sure he was not capable of. But he was also not capable of running very fast, a fact made abundantly clear during the Restaurant Incident, so he couldn’t exactly escape when they got out of the limo.  

 

Kaneki could hear the music before he even stepped out of the limo, he actually swore he could feel the music vibrating in the ground. Tsukiyama wrapped his arm around him again, probably sensing his intent to flee. 

 

“We’re meeting my colleague out here,” Tsukiyama said, checking his phone. “If you’re not with me, you’re not getting into the club.” 

 

Kaneki could tell it was a more high-end place just from standing outside it and nodded meekly. He was suddenly grateful that he had allowed Tsukiyama to pick out his outfit, because otherwise he would feel even more out of place than he already did. And also probably wouldn’t have been allowed in. 

 

Tsukiyama glanced down at his phone and let out a sigh. 

 

“It appears my colleague has somehow managed to charm his way into what is supposed to be an exclusive club, so we might as well head in.” He could tell from Tsukiyama’s tone that he was disappointed in the club for allowing such a thing to happen. 

 

Kaneki’s heart quickened at the word “exclusive”, which seemed to only solidify his opinion that he did not belong here. There was no escaping now though, and he determinedly avoided the glares of people waiting in line as Tsukiyama talked to the bouncer and they got in in front of what appeared to be hundreds of people. 

 

The club was exactly how Kaneki had imagined it, loud music that was already giving him a headache. Flashing lights that made it hard to see who was who, and people wearing clothes that looked like they cost more than Kaneki made in a month. Or a year.

 

“There he is!” Tsukiyama exclaimed, and Kaneki wondered how he could tell anyone apart in this cacophony. Still, a man about Kaneki’s age seemed to appear out of nowhere as he squeezed his way in between two people, who looked like they very much did not want to separated.

 

“Nagachika,” Tsukiyama said. “This is my friend, Kaneki Ken. Kaneki, this is-”

 

“Hideyoshi,” the man (apparently Hideyoshi) said. “ _ Please  _ don’t call me Nagachika. In fact, don’t call me Hideyoshi either, call me Hide.”

 

“Uh, um, right,” Kaneki stammered out awkwardly at the barrage of names. He belatedly noticed that Hide had offered his hand and rushed to shake it, blushing furiously. He took the opportunity to get a good look at Hide. He was wearing an assortment of brightly coloured clothes and his hair was bleached blonde. Kaneki secretly wondered how anyone could pull off an outfit like that. Hide looked good in them but if Kaneki were to wear them he’d look like an advertisement for a store that sold tropical fish. 

 

He was staring at Hide so much that he forgot to remove his hand from his, and pulled away quickly, hoping Hide didn’t notice what a mess he was. 

 

“Nice to meet you,” Kaneki said, putting what he hoped was a pleasant smile on his face. 

 

“You too,” Hide said. His smile looked a lot more sincere than Kaneki’s. 

 

“How on earth did you get into this club without me?” Tsukiyama demanded suddenly. Kaneki smirked, so it  _ had  _ been bothering him. 

 

“Is it supposed to be hard?” Hide said with a tone of innocence that would be convincing if it weren’t for the smirk on his face that said he knew full well it was driving Tsukiyama insane. 

 

Tsukiyama grimaced. “In any case, it’s a miracle I got this one out,” he gestured at Kaneki, who quickly felt awkward again with the attention focussed on him. “So I want to make sure he has a good time.”

 

Hide shot him a glance, but before he could say anything, they heard someone very loudly shout. “Tsukiyama, I haven’t seen you in ages!” Someone threw their arms around Tsukiyama’s neck and pulled him away. Kaneki watched in abject horror as the crowd of people closed around him, and in a matter of seconds he could not see the only person he knew in this club. 

 

“ _ Are you kidding me _ ?” Kaneki demanded, to no one in particular. He turned around to see that Hide was biting his lip to prevent himself from laughing. 

 

“He’s a bit flaky, isn’t he?” Hide said. 

 

“You’re telling me,” Kaneki grumbled. 

 

“I can stay with you until he comes back,” Hide said, correctly assessing Kaneki’s distress. 

 

“That would be...good,” Kaneki mumbled. “S-sorry.” He hated that he was making this complete stranger babysit him at a club like he was a lost child without his mom. 

 

Even though he supposed that wasn’t too far off the mark. 

 

They stood there awkwardly for a moment. Kaneki wasn’t sure how to start a conversation that wasn’t going to be horrible. 

 

“How do you know Tsukiyama?” Hide offered a conversational life preserver. 

 

“University,” Kaneki said. “He saw me reading the same books he liked and struck up a conversation about them. He actually asked me out a few times in the beginning, but I turned him down.” He grimaced slightly at the awkward memory, but Hide laughed. 

 

“Anyway,” Kaneki said. “I am going to murder him for leaving me here.” He pulled out his phone and texted Tsukiyama, though he didn’t expect a reply. 

 

“Not a club kind of person?” Hide said sympathetically.

 

“No, not at all,” Kaneki said. “I didn’t even pick these clothes. We’re actually a bit late because I stepped out the front door and he yelled at me for what I was wearing before.”

 

“Well, you look good,” Kaneki felt a blush creep up his face but was saved from responding to the compliment when Hide said “I’m not really into clubs either, to be honest. But I just moved to the city and I’m trying to say yes to everything so I can make some friends.” Hide rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously. 

 

“I don’t think you’ll have any trouble with that,” Kaneki said, mostly to himself. 

 

“What?” Hide said. 

 

“N-nothing!” 

 

“No I mean I really can’t hear you over this music,” Hide said. “I don’t think he’s coming back anytime soon so wanna go grab a drink?” 

 

Kaneki nodded. He wasn’t much of a drinker, but he might as well since he was here. 

 

He followed behind Hide as they wound their way through the seemingly endless sea of people dancing. When they got up to the bar he made the mistake of ordering what Hide had because he wanted to sound cool, and found it was both very expensive and also the same neon colour as Hide’s shirt. 

 

That was his drink budget gone for the night.

 

Kaneki sipped his drink slowly so that he could maximize the amount of money spent vs. time spent drinking. A problem that didn’t seem to concern Hide, who was already halfway done by the time they had shimmied away from the crowd of people at the bar. 

 

“So do you like-” Kaneki realized he didn’t think of a way to end that sentence. “-What do you like?” He finished weakly. 

Hide gave him a bemused look. “In general?”

 

“Sure,” Kaneki wanted to die. 

 

“I like music,” Hide deftly shifted the conversation. “I’ll pretty much listen to anything, which drives Tsukiyama nuts at work by the way, and now there’s a rule you have to wear earphones because of me.”

 

Kaneki laughed. 

 

“And I make sure to wear my most horrible, bright-orange earphones, which also drives him insane.”

 

“That sounds about right,” Kaneki said. “I imagine he’s a bit...exacting at work.”

 

Hide laughed and turned to finish his drink. Kaneki quickly checked his phone to see if Tsukiyama had texted him back. He had not. 

 

He got the feeling he was not going to hear anything from Tsukiyama until it was time to go home, assuming he wasn’t forgotten and had to find a taxi home. 

 

“And how about you?” Hide said. His face was already a little pink from the alcohol. 

 

“I don’t really like music- or, I mean. I obviously like music. But I don’t...actively listen…”

 

“What do you like?” Hide prompted. Kaneki already deeply appreciated Hide’s patience and attempts to save him from the conversational holes he always dug for himself. 

 

“Oh, uh, I read a lot. And I actually write for a living. Freelance articles mostly.” He was sure Hide would know that was code for “perpetually broke” but he would be polite enough not to pursue the line of questioning. 

 

“I guess that sounds pretty boring,” Kaneki laughed awkwardly. 

 

“No, I think it sounds nice,” Hide said. “You want another drink?” 

 

Kaneki looked down at his mostly-untouched drink. “No, I’m good.” 

 

Hide got a shot of something that looked like it should be radioactive and Kaneki winced when he actually drank it. Hide turned to walk back to Kaneki but before he could some guy tapped him on the shoulder and, though Kaneki couldn’t hear what he said over the pounding music, was clearly asking Hide to dance. 

 

To Kaneki’s immense shock, Hide came over to him. “Do you mind if I go dance for a few minutes?” 

 

The truthful answer was “yes, please don’t leave me alone here”, but Kaneki would feel guilty taking away from Hide’s good time. It wasn’t his fault Tsukiyama had stuck them together, and Hide was being patient but he was probably secretly pissed that he had to babysit him. 

 

“Yeah, sure that’s okay,” Kaneki lied through his teeth. 

 

Hide nodded. “I’ll be back soon,” he promised, before leaving Kaneki all alone in the club. 

 

Kaneki tried to shuffle out of the way and the view of the crowd, clutching his drink like a lifeline as he made himself as small as possible. Why did he ever agree to these things? It was always a nightmare. 

 

He peevishly watched Hide dance before he lost sight of him in the throngs of people. God, he didn’t belong here. He didn’t belong anywhere, really, but the feeling was only intensified in places where everyone around him was having fun. Places like this made him feel like he wasn’t actually there, or like he was in a movie watching this happen to someone else. Too bad he didn’t know the script.

 

_ This is what real people do _ , said a voice in Kaneki’s head.  _  Go out to clubs, have fun with friends. _

 

He jumped when a man touched him on the shoulder and asked him if he wanted to dance. He shook his head vehemently and the man looked offended. Kaneki didn’t blame him. He probably asked him out of pity and still got shot down by the most pathetic person in the club. 

 

It felt like an eternity until Hide came back. He couldn’t even judge the passage of time by song because they all blended together. 

 

“Sorry, went to get another drink.” Hide’s words were definitely slurred. Kaneki had finished his drink and his head felt fuzzy, so he imagined Hide was getting quite not sober by this point. 

 

“Having fun?” Kaneki asked, hoping it didn’t come out bitter. 

 

“Ugh, until he grabbed my ass. Like three times until after I told him no.”

 

“Oh, yikes.”

 

“Yeah, yikes. So now I’m avoiding him.”

 

Kaneki looked over Hide’s shoulder and saw the man looking over at them. 

 

“Maybe we should move then,” he said uneasily. 

 

Hide stumbled a little as he and Kaneki tried to edge away. They managed to find a place to sit down, which was a relief to Kaneki, but he could tell Hide was getting bored after sitting there for a few minutes. 

 

“Maybe I should get another drink,” Hide said. 

 

“How about you wait here while I go to the bathroom?” Kaneki suggested. He really didn’t think Hide needed anymore alcohol. 

 

Hide nodded but pouted a bit, and, okay, even as a straight man Kaneki had to admit Hide looked cute when he did that. 

 

When he got back from the bathroom, he saw that Hide had kept his promise to stay put, but the man from before had wandered over in his absence and was blocking Hide from going anywhere. Hide clearly looked uncomfortable. 

 

Hide pushed the man away and glanced at Kaneki. The man looked over too and backed off when he saw Kaneki approaching. Kaneki was not a particularly menacing man, so he supposed the man just didn’t want a witness to his creepiness. 

 

“Thanks,” Hide said. 

 

“I didn’t really do anything.”

 

“You had good timing?” Hide said, he sat back down and seemed less keen on going to get another drink. The man was hovering close to them, though casually not looking at them, and they both kept a wary eye on him. 

 

“Why do I always attract such creeps?” Hide said suddenly. 

 

_ Oh god is he a sad drunk _ ? Kaneki’s mind went into a bit of a panic. He was not good at comforting people he had known for years, let alone complete strangers. 

 

“I’m...sure it’s not your fault?” Kaneki said. 

 

Hide said nothing, just nodded sadly. Kaneki was relieved, but felt guilty that he wasn’t better at comforting him. 

 

They sat in silence that Kaneki didn’t know how to break, until suddenly Hide said, “He’s gone, let’s go to the bar!” 

He dashed off before Kaneki could stop him, and Kaneki ended up having to push his way through the crowd to find him again. 

 

When he saw him at the bar, Kaneki was enraged to find that he had not bought the drink he intended to. Before he got there, he had been cornered once again by the same creep, he had his hand on Hide’s arm and Hide looked like he wanted to run. 

 

Tapping into a courage he didn’t know he had, Kaneki stormed over and grabbed the man roughly by the shoulder. 

 

“The hell’s your problem?” He demanded, not taking his hand off Hide as turned around. 

 

“That’s my boyfriend you’re groping!” Kaneki had no idea where these words were coming from.  “So...back off!”

 

Kaneki could not fight this man if he wanted to start something. He had a vision of leaving here in an ambulance, but to his immense shock the man backed off, letting go of Hide’s arm and shooting them both a dirty look before he left. 

 

“That was inspired,” Hide raised his eyebrows. 

 

“I have no idea how I pulled that off,” Kaneki admitted. 

 

Hide laughed. “Well, it was good. Thank you.”

 

Kaneki blushed. 

 

“So… since you’re my boyfriend for the night, how about we dance?” 

 

Kaneki spluttered. “I’m...not a good dancer.”

 

“That’s okay,” Hide grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the bar and towards the dance floor. “Neither am I.” 

 

Kaneki couldn’t protest, and he was dragged out to the floor. Hide began to move in time to the music. Kaneki began to awkwardly try to match him. He was definitely not successful. 

 

Kaneki glanced around quickly. He couldn’t stop wondering if people were looking at him and seeing how bad he was, how much he didn’t belong here. How much better-looking Hide was in comparison to how drab he looked. 

 

But no one was looking at him. Kaneki was the one looking at them. And no one seemed to notice or care. 

The knot in his stomach seemed to ease slightly. Hide grabbed him by the waist and pull him in closer. 

 

“-Oof!”

 

“Hey, boyfriend! You’re supposed to be paying attention to me!”  Hide pouted again. Kaneki felt his heart squeeze just a little. Damn, he was cute. Kaneki couldn’t believe he didn’t already have a boyfriend. 

 

Hide squeezed Kaneki’s side playfully. “Don’t worry so much about whether people are looking at you. Just ignore them and have fun.” 

 

“Y-yeah,” Kaneki said. 

 

Kaneki was  _ not _ a dancer, and he was not exactly uncovering some unknown skill dancing with Hide right now. But Hide’s ability to just ignore what everyone else thought of him helped him get out of his own head a bit. 

 

They swayed and grabbed at each other exaggeratedly, Kaneki couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. They both stopped to catch their breaths and get (non-alcoholic) drinks for a moment. 

 

They saw the creep from before glaring at them and waved at him jauntily as they sipped their Cokes. 

 

“Seriously, though, there are so many fucking people in this club, how do we keep seeing the same guy over and over?” 

 

Kaneki laughed. 

 

They finished their drinks and headed back to the dance floor. Kaneki was surprised to find that he genuinely wanted to dance with Hide. 

 

Kaneki wasn’t the type of person who normally enjoyed physical contact, but he didn’t mind how touchy Hide was getting. He was supposed to be his boyfriend for the night, after all. 

 

“This was a good idea,” Hide shouted so Kaneki could hear over the music. “I didn’t want guys approaching me all night anyway. You’re like a human shield.”

 

Hide was  _ very _ close to him now, more or less pressing his whole body against him. 

 

He felt a tap on his shoulder and jumped and turned around to find Tsukiyama standing there. 

 

He jumped off of Hide very quickly. 

 

“ _ You _ !” Kaneki said in accusation. “You abandoned me!”

 

“Sorry.” Tsukiyama didn’t seem sorry. “That was an old acquaintance of the family and I have appearances to keep up.”

 

Kaneki grumbled. 

 

“Besides,” Tsukiyama said mischievously. “It seems you two have managed to entertain yourselves fairly well without me.”

 

Kaneki felt himself go very red and glanced over at Hide, who seemed completely unabashed. 

 

“In any case, I promised I would go meet some of her friends, business connections, you know. I’ll text you when it’s time to leave.” Tsukiyama smirked in a uniquely infuriating way. “I’ll leave you two to enjoy yourselves.” 

 

Kaneki opened his mouth to defend himself, though didn’t know what exactly what he was defending himself from, but Tsukiyama left before he could. 

 

Hide raised his eyebrows. “Shall we pick up where we left off?” 

 

Kaneki nodded. 

 

It still felt like almost too soon when Tsukiyama texted him, though Kaneki was shocked to find it was just past two in the morning when he checked his phone. He offered Hide a ride back in the limo too, and Hide looked very excited to be able to join them. 

 

“I’ve never been in a limo before!” 

 

“Well, if you stay friends with Tsukiyama you’ll ride in them a lot more. One time I brought him onto a bus and I thought he would faint.”

 

Hide snickered. They made their way through the still-crowded club to get to the entrance, but just before they got out Hide grabbed Kaneki’s arm. 

 

“Hey, uh, listen,” Hide said quickly. “I was wondering… I know tonight was like, a ruse, but it was a good ruse! I think so anyway.”

 

“Yeah.” Kaneki wasn’t sure what he was going on about. 

 

Hide brightened. “So...would you like to hang out again sometime?” 

Kaneki remembered Hide saying at the beginning of the night that he was trying to make friends. No wonder he looked so happy when Kaneki said he had enjoyed the night too. He couldn’t help but be a little smug that Hide apparently wanted to see him again.  

 

“Yeah, sure, that sounds nice”

 

Hide smiled widely


End file.
